Who Is Jailing and Torturing Palestinian Journalists?

The Palestinian Authority (PA) sees no need for international intervention to halt its own crackdown on freedom of speech. Nor does it consider the closure of a newspaper office and the detention of journalists as a "war crime."

The report reveals that Palestinian detainees have been undergoing severe torture while in PA detention. During the past few years, ten people have died in Palestinian prisons. As far as we can see, no one from the European community has taken the slightest notice.

The detention of Khalil is seen in the context of the PA's continued effort to silence and intimidate Palestinian journalists who dare to criticize the Palestinian leadership and its institutions.

The PA clearly wants a media that reports only against Israel. The only incitement permitted is the one directed there.

Western human rights groups that regularly condemn Israel for its actions against Palestinians have, as usual, failed to respond to this latest assault by the PA on public freedoms. The PA's crackdown on the media is not going to attract the attention of the mainstream media in the West: the story lacks an anti-Israel angle.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) recently and not surprisingly announced that it was planning to file a complaint with international organizations over Israeli "assaults" and "crimes" against Palestinian journalists.

The Palestinian Ministry of Information condemned the "assaults" as a "war crime" and said it would urge the International Federation of Journalists to send a commission of inquiry to the Palestinian territories to launch an investigation against Israel.

Ironically, the PA's announcement came only a few days after it ordered the closure of a newspaper office in Ramallah and the detention of a female journalist, Naela Khalil. The announcement also coincides with the PA's ongoing crackdown on freedom of expression in the West Bank, where Palestinians are being arrested for posting critical remarks on social media.

The Palestinian Authority, of course, sees no need for international intervention to halt its own crackdown on freedom of speech. Nor, apparently, does it consider the closure of a newspaper office and the detention of journalists a "war crime" when it does it.

Earlier this month, the Palestinian Authority ordered the closure of the Ramallah-based Al-Araby Al-Jadeed online newspaper on the pretext that it was operating without a license from the Palestinian Ministry of Information. The decision to shut the newspaper came after Palestinian security officers had raided its offices several times and questioned employees about the nature of their work.

The management of Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, however,said that it had applied for a license in December 2014, but had never received an answer from the Palestinian Ministry of Information.

A senior official with the Ministry later admitted that the decision to shut down the newspaper was taken after the publication of an article that was considered "offensive to the State of Palestine and its security institutions." In other words, the decision had nothing to do with the newspaper not having obtained a license from the Ministry of Information in Ramallah.

The Palestinian Ministry of Information sent a letter to the Palestinian prosecutor-general urging him to authorize the closure of the newspaper. The letter explained why the newspaper had to be shut. The letter read: "A London-based newspaper that has an office in Ramallah recently published a report that offends the State of Palestine and its security agencies. The report portrayed our security forces as if they have nothing to do but arrest people and conduct security coordination with the occupation state (Israel). This is incitement against the Palestinian Authority and its security institutions. We therefore hope you will issue an order to close this unlicensed office."

According to Palestinian journalists, the report that enraged the PA and prompted it to take action against Al-Araby Al-Jadeed was actually written by an Egyptian journalist, Shaima Al-Hadidi.

The report criticizes the Palestinian Authority for clamping down on journalists and political opponents in the West Bank and refers to security coordination between the Palestinian security forces and Israel.

"The Palestinian Authority does not hesitate to open the doors of its cells for [to hold] its opponents," the report charged. "The Palestinian Authority prisons in Ramallah are full of dozens of political detainees accused of resisting occupation."

The report reveals that Palestinian detainees have been undergoing severe torture while under Palestinian Authority detention. In just one month last August, there were at least 12 cases in which detainees complained that they had been tortured by Palestinian Authority interrogators. Some detainees were denied medical treatment, the report said, and pointed out that during the past few years, ten Palestinians have died in Palestinian prisons. As far as we can see, no one from the European community took the slightest notice. Such information is presumably considered, in journalistic terms, "dog bites man:" The Palestinian leadership is abusing its own people again? Who cares, glad it's not us.

Some of the Palestinians who died in detention were identified as Majd Barghouti of Ramallah, Fadi Hamadneh of Nablus, Arafat Jaradat of Hebron, Ayman Samara of Jenin, Nawaf Kawazbeh of Bethlehem, Rabi Mahmoud al-Jamal of Hebron and Raed al-Hitleh of Tulkarem.

In another case, Palestinian Authority security officers arrested the journalist Amer Abu Arafeh after raiding his home and confiscating documents, cameras and computers. Abu Arafeh later said that he was interrogated about Facebook entries he had posted, in which he had reportedly criticized the Palestinian Authority.

The report about Palestinian Authority human rights violations in Al-Araby Al-Jadeed angered the Palestinian Authority to a point where it felt that closing the newspaper's Ramallah office was not enough. Last week, the newspaper's correspondent, Naela Khalil, was detained for interrogation. After protests by her colleagues, the PA agreed to release her on bail.

The detention of Khalil is seen in the context of the Palestinian Authority's continued effort to silence and intimidate Palestinian journalists who dare to criticize the Palestinian leadership and its institutions.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate and a few human rights groups in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have since condemned the decision to detain Khalil and shut the offices of her newspaper.

However, most Western human rights groups that regularly condemn Israel for its actions against Palestinians have, as usual, so far failed to respond to this latest assault by the Palestinian Authority on public freedoms. It is a punishment for freedom of expression that apparently bothers no one apart from us.

The cases of Al-Araby Al-Jadeed and Naela Khalil, the female journalist detained in Ramallah, show that the Palestinian Authority leadership effectively does not tolerate any form of criticism. Palestinian officials have accused the newspaper and its journalist of "incitement" against the Palestinian Authority. But this is the same Palestinian Authority that has long been engaged in a massive campaign of incitement against Israel, especially during the past few weeks.

The Palestinian Authority clearly wants a media that reports only against Israel. The only incitement permitted is the one directed there. Palestinian journalists who incite against Israel are safe; they do not face any form of harassment by the Palestinian Authority security forces. But once a journalist or a media outlet dares to publish anything that is considered "offensive" against the Palestinian Authority, they quickly find themselves behind bars in Ramallah.

It is forbidden to criticize President Mahmoud Abbas or any of his top officials. It is also forbidden to report about human rights violations and torture in Palestinian Authority prisons.

During the past few years, several Palestinians have been arrested or summoned for interrogation for posting critical remarks about Abbas and other Palestinian officials on Facebook.

But this is not a story that most Western journalists or supposed human rights groups are interested in covering. A story that reflects negatively on the Palestinian Authority or Hamas is not "news that is fit to print." The Palestinian Authority's crackdown on the media is not going to attract the attention of the mainstream media in the West because, as noted by the left-wing Associated Press reporter, Matti Friedman, the award-winning journalist Khaled Abu Toameh and a few others, such stories lack an anti-Israel angle. Had Al-Araby Al-Jadeed been shut by Israeli authorities, the story would probably have made it to the front pages of most newspapers in the U.S. and Europe.

As such, the Palestinian Authority and President Abbas have no reason to be worried about the response of the international community to their continued assaults on freedom of expression. They can continue to arrest as many journalists as they like and close newspaper offices without having to worry about a backlash from the media, so-called human rights groups or the international community.

The Palestinian Authority is now demanding international protection for its journalists against Israeli "assaults." But the real question that the international human rights organizations need to ask the Palestinian Authority when its leaders come calling to complain about Israeli "violations" is:

Who is going to protect Palestinian journalists from the Palestinian Authority and its security forces?

Comment on this item

6 Reader Comments

Lon W. • Nov 28, 2015 at 09:28

I am starting to come to the conclusion that whoever controls the kickbacks from the sales of cigarettes and fuel in the Arab occupied territories is responsible for the entire conflict with the nation of Israel. This is what happened in Gaza. Hamas wanted these kickbacks and was able to oust the Fatah that were receiving the same kickbacks in the first place. If one is responsible "to" their own intelligence and does the footwork to research my claim, I am confident in the conclusions they will reach for themselves.

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Elena • Nov 26, 2015 at 15:02

Too bad, so sad, "Palestinian" "journalists" are getting arrested because they have criticized the PA for coordinating security operations with "THE OCCUPIER JEWS"!!!! The so-called Palestinians are hated throughout the Middle East by other Arabs and who are viewed by Westerners as pure poison. In this article we read about an important life lesson they are learning: As you do unto others, so shall it be done to you. The violence these journalists advocate against Israel by using people as human drones and killing machines against Israelis (particularly civilians), always comes back to them.

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Harvey • Nov 25, 2015 at 19:28

As in Iran, Russia, China and Turkey, there is no free press. You go against the grain and you are locked up tortured or disappear. This is just an inkling of heaven forbid a Palestinian state would be. Run and governed by thugs.

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Howard Joffe • Nov 25, 2015 at 16:29

My view is that the closure of their own newspaper by the The Palestinian Authority places a restriction on that Authority's rights to be critical of others. Deaths of apparently tens of their reporters appear to have been glossed over and forgotten by the Western media. YET, THOSE CRITICAL OF ISRAEL CONTINUE WITHOUT A BLINKING OF THE EYE. Hypocrisy at its best.

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Arlene Davey Howard Joffe • Nov 28, 2015 at 17:36

Bravo Howard Joffe for always cutting to the chase!

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DockyWocky • Nov 25, 2015 at 08:43

One thing for sure: it ain't the Israelis.

Which leaves only the Palestinian's themselves. They are so interested in developing freedom of expression that they allow a cabal of radical Islamists and Jew haters free reign over their daily news -- a sure way to keep the Palestinian people cowed and totally subservient to radical Islamist ideas. What an ideal arrangement.

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